Launch Base Zone - Infiltration

[Sonic]

The look on Sonic’s face as they both replied to not having a plan was nothing short but a dull anger. Grimacing as he closed his eyes, he brought his hand to his forehead. If there was one thing he wanted to hear it certainly wasn’t that kind of response. After a moment passed by he took his hand down and looked at Gail seriously.

“Yeah, and I was a stupid kid with dumb luck and a powerful ability to boot. All you kids got are just plain old’ dumb luck!” He replied to Gail agitated. “I was impatient and I tended to leap before I looked; which caused a lot more problems for me than if I’d just took a second to think. And I’m surprised that you didn’t get completely killed instead of just stunned by runnin’ in here blindly.”

He folded his arms looking away from both of them.

“-and the worst thing about this is the fact that I can’t plan like Tails can.” He took another pause as he looked down, cooling a little bit down from his aggravation. “For now I think its best that you kids get out of here. There’s no point in getting yourselves killed for playing ‘hero’. As much as I don’t know the situation, I’ve dealt with Eggman long enough to know the game he plays. I’m sure those robot’s won’t be paying much attention to you three slipping away if I’m around. I’m an egg-magnet that way…”

He turned around and started to walk out. Sure he could run, but he was going to check if the closet was clear. Was a second ago, but he could never be too careful.


[ ooc: Sonic: you kids and you're running in without thinking, and your Iphones, and your nanites....GET OFF MY LAWN!]

[Jijeka-Te]

Anu was too busy coughing to contribute to the conversation. Ji kept her attention on Sonic, and followed him from a distance.

(Ji) "You would do well not to underestimate us. You may have more experience with this Robotnik or Eggman or whatever his name is, but we are also not hapless children who wouldn't last for five seconds without parental guidance. How do you suppose we got down here in the first place without getting captured? I would consider it highly implausible that all the guards just happened to turn away to chat and admire the scenery when we came in."

[Gail Strafer]

Gail limped down the tunnel after Sonic, still smoking away. Every step from him was hesitant and shuffling, although he seemed to be getting better by the minute now.

"Why do you keep calling ME a kid, anyway? I'm 21! I'm old enough to legally get drunk!"

Obviously Gail didn't understand what it meant to be an adult, if that was his definition of it.

"I'm coming with you once I feel better! That's that, all right?! I came out all this way and I'm not backing down now! I can't wait to get famous and start telling all the girls about what I'll--"

Gail fell silent as a troop of SWATbots appeared from a wrecked shuttle and started walking past the building they were hiding in. Meekly, he slunk back behind the wall. The wolf thought it was his loud boasting and yelling that had caused them to wander over here.

"Sorry...was gettin' carried away..." he whispered.

[Sonic]

Sonic hid close to the wall as soon as he heard the incoming bot. He would let out a grumpy sigh, but he needed to be more cautious so he settled on a rather grumpy look.

“You…” He whispered in a low tone, pointing at Jii. “ You…have given yourself with a good defense and I apologize. But you-” He then turned his attention to Gail, appearing much more agitated to him. “Do nothing but assure me that I’m right! And if you both want to fully prove yourselves I’m going to have to see it. You may be able to say you can; but it doesn’t mean you can!”

He paused, taking a silently deep breath.

“ Listen….I have a plan. Not very structured plan, but at least something to go by. If you don’t know where those shards are, then you’ve got to stall the time. And the only way you’re going to do that is by taking down those ships. You need to find some way to make sure they don’t get off the ground. In the meanwhile, I’ll cause a distraction. I tend to have a big bulls-eye painted on my back when it comes to the old egghead. That doesn’t mean that all security will be clear, but it should be enough for you to get by without getting completely ganged up on. That’s what I got unless you have anything to add.”

[Chadin]

[Just posting in here to maintain continuity between threads.]

Right about now, everyone outside would hear a colossal gong from Robotnik's factory ship. There might even be some visible distortion visible on the outside of the ship due to the combined molten metal bath and force of the vat Chadin used like a wrecking ball.

[Espio]

[And... Enter Espio! Background music for intro? =P http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVMQDLk-XYo]

Soon after the gong ran out almost as if it was a que, a cloaked figure began thundering through one of the Launch Base's infamous speed hills. The chameleon grinned with a cocky smirk, recalling the times he spent in this area for a moment. Ever since Eggman abandoned the zone after being defeated by Sonic, (and losing the death egg in the process) the abandoned launch base became the ideal training field for his clan's ninja. Badniks appeared time to time from areas even the ninja can't pinpoint, making for excellent target practice.

He had been scouting the general area Sonic and his friends were in, taking note of the swatbot piloted dropships from atop a metal tower. Now... swatbots generally wern't one of the staple robots he trained against here, so they were more likely than not brought in for something, he reasoned a detective's logic. "Just what is the doctor up to here?", he thought to himself as he rapidly approached a nearby swatbot. He figured that if he was to have an easier time sneaking in among those battleships, it would be best to cause a distraction a fair ways away. He even noticed the tightened security around the landed fleet of airships- something likely spooked them earlier. He lowered his horn as the swatbot turned slowly towards him, but it was too late as he gored clean through the robot, it falling backwards slowly as it set off a small explosion that he hoped would send part of the party down below to investigate. For good measure on top of that, he would pull one of his special shuriken rigged with explosives from seemingly out of nowhere, tossing it into a nearby metal tower- an aged one with a rather weak base in the hopes he would cause it to collaspe and cause further mayhem as he sped by.

Inventory Changes: Bomb x3 (1 left in backpack). Espio begins with one green, and one red potion in stock.

[Jijeka-Te]

((Aaack... sorry... forgot it was my turn.))

(Ji) "That's actually sort of what we've been doing already. We came down here to--"

It was then that the gong sound rang out. It would've meant little to the others, but the second the pharaoh heard it she was trapped in a flashback.

As the lookout rang the gong, Jijeka-Te glanced over the desert landscape, her frills out and her right hand shielding her eyes from the blinding sun. Way off in the distance, she could just about see the Parthian army approaching. The first true test of her ability to lead her people was nigh.

"It's time," she muttered. "They decided to attack while the sun was at their backs, to give themselves the blessing of Ra. No matter; we'll put up a fight no matter what time of day it is."

She turned around and called out: "The Parthians are approaching! All soldiers, move to the perimeter of Ra! Repeat: the Parthians are approaching, all soldiers to the perimeter of Ra and prepare for battle!"

The scout standing near her and awaiting orders (actually Sonic) caught her eye. "Riki!" she instructed him. "Perform a reconnaissance run and return with information on what arms the Parthians are carrying. Gather your equipment and do it NOW!"

Then, to the soldier having a tobacco break nearby (actually Gail): "Jaoku, did you not hear me? The Parthian army is approaching from the Ra perimeter! Get to Tower K and ready your weapon! There is no time to lose!"

Anu was too surprised to do anything.

((I don't really know my Egyptian history, so I have no idea how historically accurate that flashback is.))

[Gail Strafer]

[Tutley, remember that the SWATbots and Robotnik forces are mine to control. Don't take control of them, even if you're just killing one, please.]

In response to Espio's explosion, a few SWATpods went to investigate. However, most remained stubbornly clustered around the primary factory ship and the other battleships. Espio might notice smoke leaking out of one side, where Chadin had hit it with a bucket of molten metal, right after spilling said molten metal all over the outer wall of the ship. Clearly Robotnik wasn't going to let his forces wander off. Espio would have to get closer to find out why.

---

Gail let out a low growl at Sonic as he criticized the wolf. But the SWATbots wandering around forced him to hold his tongue, otherwise he would have given Sonic yet another tongue-lashing. It was probably better that way, because Gail didn't realize every attempt he made at trying to show himself as a grown-up man actually did the opposite.

When Sonic mentioned blowing up the ships however, Gail just let out an annoyed sigh, and then waved at the destruction around the building they were hiding in. Chadin's little attack with the bulldozer and the lit jet fuel had done quite a number on leaving the once gleaming-white delivery shuttles in burned ash black piles of wreckage.

"You goin' blind in your old age man? First you miss the Robotnik emblems and now you miss that all of his little ships are already trash. We did that already!"

The gong from Robotnik's primary ship echoed throughout the compound, briefly making an odd resonating effect in the wolf's ears. He actually had to hold down his pointy ears for a second in irritation while the noise assaulted them. As he recovered though, Jii seemed to be acting awful weird. Did that vibration from the ship do something to her head?

"Riki! Perform a reconnaissance run and return with information on what arms the Parthians are carrying. Gather your equipment and do it NOW!"

Gail stood up to grab Jii on the shoulder.

"Jii...who's Riki? And who are the Parthia--"

Then suddenly she whirled around and was now speaking to Gail himself. He really never expected this turn of events, as he actually backed up a little bit in surprise.

"Jaoku, did you not hear me? The Parthian army is approaching from the Ra perimeter! Get to Tower K and ready your weapon! There is no time to lose!"

Gail really didn't know what to make of that. He cocked his head side to side, looking rather like an adorable pet dog doing the "baroo" head tilt on a YouTube video.

"I...I...just what are you talkin' about woman?! Your mind get transported back to its old time but your body get left behind?!"

[Tutley Sakamoto]

[Sonic's up next, right? o.o' *is Espio*]

[Nail Strafer]

[Yeah, but Rose hasn't posted. I know she's been around though. You could probably skip her for this round without any real consequences though.]